Pitching on yeast cake

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Dok

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2009
Messages
164
Reaction score
8
Location
St Louis
I am finishing a diacetyl rest on a Marzen. In one carboy I made a starter with 2 WLP 830 German Lager yeast that I used a stir plate with. The other I did the same with WLP 833. I gave both two thirty second shots of O2 and shook them for a minute between and after each shot. The results where great. If I pitch my next batch right on top of the yeast cake, what kind of result should I expect? I will of course give the wort another shot of O2.
 
Or should I pour some starter wort on top of the yeast swirl for a while, then pour it into my next batch?
 
I use my cake without using starter wort and I get great results. I've been using a California Ale yeast for almost 10 generations this way to good results.
 
Yeah, I was just thinking that I would be putting 78 degree wort off my plate chiller on top of the yeast cake. I guess the most important part of the process is getting the right amount to harvest and repitch.
 
jwalker1140 said:

The lesson from that thread isn't not to use your cake, it's just to be cognizant that over pitching is bad, and that you only need some (a cup or so) of the cake. Some folks dump a bunch out and use what remains. Others carefully wash their yeast. But bottom line: pointless to make a starter since you'll be working with plenty of cells.
 
I've done it. Left an empty fermentation corney in the keezer for 2 weeks then pitched right on the cake. I made beer, probably one of my best so far. Right, wrong? My palate isn't that refined, all I know is that either the beer tastes good or it tastes nasty and it tasted damn good and saved me $4.75 on another pack of Notty. I will continue to do it at least until I start farming yeast.
 
My palate isn't that refined, all I know is that either the beer tastes good or it tastes nasty and it tasted damn good and saved me $4.75 on another pack of Notty.

You have no in between? Something is either good or it's nasty?
 
I harvest about a third of the yeast cake and repitch into the next beer. If not brewing for a week or two, I just store the yeast in a zip loc bag...very easy and seems to work well.
 
Okay so I just sampled my Standard American Lager that I brewed two weeks ago. 1.020 from 1.052. Airlock activity started almost immediately. I avoided rep itching because of the unfavorable results I had in the past. I have had great success this time with washing, measuring volume of yeast, making a starter, re pitching, and using a lot of O2.
 
Back
Top